


like this and that is what is what

by Aurya



Series: Sea and Sky [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Anti-sad fic, Gen, Minor KHIII Spoilers, Minor speculation, Still wouldn't read it if you haven't beaten the game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-06 21:56:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17947841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurya/pseuds/Aurya
Summary: A mildly annoying encounter with a mildly annoying creature has consequences somewhat greater than 'mildly annoying'.





	1. Twilight Road to Nightfall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Protip: If you're gonna hide something from someone, don't put it in a place they usually visit weekly.  
> -Context for my new readers: I wrote a sad fic with an express request that my readers avoid telling my boyfriend about it, and forgot to account for the fact that he checks my AO3 page and is a cowriter of mine. He didn't hate me for it, which I totally expected him to, but still, could've been a lot worse.
> 
> In any case, I finished the one story to my satisfaction, but found myself considering another entry. However, the attitude of the next fic is not a whole lot brighter than that of the first. I'm not sure I'm in the mood to continue with that right away.
> 
> So, I'm taking a leaf out of his book: if you want to keep writing something but can't work up the mood, write something else first.
> 
> Now, I have noticed that Kingdom Hearts III has proper DLC (only preorder stuff so far, but still), and am anticipating some DLC side-stories à la Final Fantasy XIII or Final Fantasy XV. Or at least that the Final Mix (which Draco is convinced is going to happen) is paid downloadable content for those who have the vanilla edition. This is my idea of a Kairi side-story.
> 
> And another leaf out of his book: I am kind of hoping someone at Square will see this. Or that I happen to guess right on the munny.

"It's not bad... but it could be more colourful."

Lea regarded his outfit with a judgemental eye, hoping the sunset in this otherworld wasn't skewing his perception. Kairi had convinced him to at least try on the good fairies' outfit before they left Merlin's training ground, with the understanding that he was free to put his Organization coat back on if he ultimately disliked it. "Breathes a little better..." He swept his legs back. "Don't... really need the extra mobility..." He reached for the back of his collar. "This one's even still got a hood..."

With a sigh, he stepped towards his cloak, which he had hung on a nearby branch. "You know what, I'll wear it underneath. Keep Master Yen Sid off my ba-"

Something  _white_  shot around the tree on the other side, startling Lea - for he recognized the flexible, bright length of a Nobody in motion.

"Dusk?"

Rustling through the nearest bush was all the warning he got before someone ran into him through his coat; Lea stumbled back, landing on the ground roughly. He was surprised to find  _Kairi_  had seen the collision coming soon enough to brace herself if not soon enough to avoid it; she hit the ground rolling, giving a quick "Sorry, Axel!" before taking off after the Dusk.

"Wait- Kairi!" Lea shot to his feet, throwing his coat over his shoulder as he dashed after her. "What are you doing!?"

The Dusk was making unpleasantly swift time through the forest - but Kairi, with legs tempered by years of running after Sora and Riku, was able to keep up and even gradually gain ground. The Nobody quickly realized that it was outpaced; as it reached a clearing, a surge of darkness appeared before it.

A dark corridor, into which the Dusk twisted.

Kairi didn't even slow her pace; her hands reached for the hood of her new outfit, and she threw it over her head as she neared before charging in.

Lea, hot on her tail, slung his cloak over his shoulders and slipped his arms in before following her through.

* * *

When Kairi came out the other side of the dark corridor, the Dusk was still in motion - and had twisted around a nearby corner. She quickly dashed around and found it curling to a stop, taking its full-bodied form at the dead-end.

Kairi drew her Keyblade. "There you are."

Footsteps behind her had her turning; Lea was dashing towards her. His cloak was on but undone, revealing that he had his new outfit on beneath it, and he looked worried. "Kairi, what are you doing!?"

"I'm fine, Axel," Kairi insisted, "it's one Dusk."

White thorns began to twist around the pavement, and more Dusks rose from nothing.

Flames whirled around Lea's hand as his own Keyblade appeared in his grip - or rather, with his fingers around the guard, slung over his shoulder. "You had to say something."

Numbers irrelevant, they were still just Dusks; two Keyblade wielders fresh off their training tore through the Nobodies with next to no effort. Lea waited a brief moment after quiet had fallen, to make sure there were no other Nobodies waiting to ambush them as they were about to relax; then he sighed, letting his Keyblade vanish.

"What were you-?"

"Stop!" Kairi's exclamation halted him mid-turn. "Don't move!"

Lea's Keyblade reappeared in his grip as she started towards him, half expecting her to strike at something poised at his back and throw it into visibility.

She knelt down before him, and he heard a faint scraping of metal against the pavement - in the manner of something trailing being picked up. Her hand went into her pocket before he could get a look at what she had seized.

Kairi got to her feet as he groaned. "Sorry," she insisted. Then, glancing around; "Wait, where are we?"

"A little late to the realization, aren't we?" Lea accused, stepping past her the way they'd come. Sure enough, the corridor of darkness had vanished from the dark city street.

"I was... occupied," Kairi defended. "Do you know where this is?"

Lea turned to her. "You don't recognize it?"

"...Should I?"

"Well... no, I suppose not." Lea's gaze went back around the corner... and skyward. "I mean, Saïx took you straight to the castle, right?"

Kairi quickly realized what he was talking about; she dashed towards him so she could follow his gaze.

A towering white castle, hovering in dark skies above a dark city.

This was the World That Never Was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Went to the Keyblade Graveyard, got to the fight alongside Kairi and Lea, and decided to sit back and watch Kairi fight. Point A: I think that fight is hard-coded to move to the second phase after Saïx's lunacy bar fills two layers. Point B: Kairi's Keyblade work is BEAUTIFUL. She's like a graceful butterfly of flowery death. I am so looking forward to a Kairi DLC story.


	2. First Hours of Moonrise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The old jackass with the goatee is differentiated as 'Master Xehanort'. The handsome young man who doesn't have pointy ears yet is referred to in Japanese as 'Seinen Xehanort', and Draco always calls him that because just 'Young Xehanort' makes him sound younger than he really is. Turns out he's got a point, because KHIII gave us a look at Xehanort when he was even younger.
> 
> And in Draco's abandoned notes, I found he called that one 'Shounen Xehanort'. For a plan that went straight to hell, he sure didn't back down until the gates opened.

"Oh, no."

Lea sighed. "Yeah. Chasing after a Nobody going through a dark corridor was a bad enough idea. Turns out this one isn't even interested in the same destination, you brought us straight into the old base. And," he added, turning his gaze to the pavement, "it closed the door behind us. Doubt there's a Gummi Ship lying around for us to hijack."

Kairi glanced down. "We're... trapped here?" she realized. "You can't open one?"

"We used them in the Organization because they tried to say we didn't have any hearts for the darkness to affect," Lea informed her. "But I think us starting off with no hearts made it easier for us to use them. I've only opened one, once, since I was recompleted, and it only worked when I aimed at the King. What about you?"

"...You remember I'm a princess of heart, right?" Kairi's voice was somewhere between disbelief and concern.

"I was thinking Naminé coming back to you might've given you the ability," Lea defended.

Kairi shook her head. "I haven't felt or done anything different since her heart came to mine. Which means..."

"...Well, I've got one idea," Lea mused, starting forward. "But it's kind of a long shot."

"A long shot is better than nothing," Kairi mused. "What do you have in mind?"

"Step one: the Organization doesn't find us and strike us down on our way to the Brink."

* * *

Some small part of Kairi had been concerned that training with Lea under controlled conditions meant she wasn't getting as much combat experience as she really ought.

That same small part was  _relieved_ , therefore, when the two of them stepped out of the dead-end alleyway and found  _Shadows_ rising out of the pavement to block their way. Keyblades were drawn, and Kairi found that the size of the swarm required somewhat different tactics than a one-on-one with Lea or a small crowd of Dusks; but the few blows that got around her defenses and landed upon her were not terribly life-threatening, and she was satisfied when the two of them were alone on the street with only scratches to show for it.

Wounds were patched with Cure magic, and they continued through the streets - fighting off each swarm of Shadows as it appeared. Eventually, they found themselves approaching the plaza beneath the massive skyscraper in the center of the world... and the sound of battle had Kairi concerned.

"Is someone else here?"

As they got nearer to the plaza, however, they heard the berserk roars that accompanied the strike of a weapon, and Lea grabbed Kairi's shoulder before she could get near. "No, wait-!"

A blast of blue fire told Kairi what he was concerned about; she recognized the weapon that had impaled itself in the ground, a huge club-like weapon with a spiked head. It vanished before long, and a Neoshadow was flung into the nearest building, shattering when it made contact with the window.

"Isa," Lea realized. "What is he doing here?"

"And why is he fighting Heartless?" Kairi observed.

The slowly neared the corner and looked around, finding the Neoshadows leaping at Saïx from all directions. He was absolutely feral - a pale glow like moonlight surrounded him, his pupils had been filled with the same glow as his irises, and his scar looked fresh, as though he had received it just minutes ago and it had yet to try and heal. The Heartless weren't coming anywhere close to him; if he swung his claymore, either the weapon blow or the resulting moonburst would slay anything within spitting distance. His massacre continued for a good ten minutes; eventually, the Heartless ceased to appear, and the power that had draped Saïx slowly faded out.

A moment's pause; then he turned and hurled his claymore at the building where Kairi and Lea were watching from, and both of them yelped, retreating around the building as the weapon collided; a large chunk of the building's corner shattered as the weapon impaled itself in the build.

Flames whirled around Lea's grip as he charged out, and Kairi was mildly surprised to see he was carrying his chakrams again; she drew her Keyblade before stepping out after him as he approached Saïx. "You know, a creepy 'I know you're there' without looking at us would have been fine!"

"What are you doing here?" Saïx asked.

Kairi answered before Lea could, aiming a finger at Saïx. "One of your Dusks barged in on our training and stole something from me!"

Lea turned to her, mildly surprised.

"Then the Dusk was operating against orders," Saïx observed, "as were any others that assisted it. We have not sent any Nobodies or Heartless after you. We do not know where you were."

"What are  _you_ doing here, then?" Lea countered. "Besides cutting down Heartless you're supposed to be working with!"

"Don't be absurd," Saïx reprimanded. "The Heartless are hardly in short supply. I haven't received any operation orders, and decided to make sure I hadn't atrophied in the meantime."

His weapon vanished from the building he had thrown it into, and reappeared in his grip; Kairi's other hand moved to her Keyblade, and Lea raised a chakram towards him.

With a huff, Saïx turned away, starting towards the edge of the plaza. "I'm not going to fight you. Put those things away."

Darkness rose up around him, and he vanished before Kairi or Lea could try to follow him through.

Kairi lowered her Keyblade, though she didn't let it disappear. "Why wouldn't he fight us?"

Lea moved his chakrams towards each other, and flames extended from them as they seemed to melt into each other; in a moment, he was holding his Keyblade again, and his fingers hooked on the guard as he slung it over his shoulder. "You can't make twenty with thirteen and five. He must know we're gonna be fighting them with the others."

"Freaking wonderful," Kairi muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, long chapters aren't gonna happen on this one.
> 
> Mildly hoping that Isa gets a Keyblade that looks like (and can turn into) Saïx's weapon the same way that Lea got a Keyblade that looks like (and can turn into) Axel's weapon.


	3. Approach to Midnight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things I have recently discovered about the Kingdom Hearts fandom that I rather wish I hadn't, most of them on AO3:  
> -People are acting like there's something wrong with the King and his court magician and his captain of the guard.  
> -People are comparing Yozora to Noctis, when the only real similarity to anything from FFXV is the particle effect when he summons his weapons (and that's not even the same colour, or unique to XV).  
> -People are making stupid jokes about the fact that Sora freaking died at the end of the game that aren't even remotely accurate to the visuals of his death.*  
> -People are blatantly ignoring the Epilogue like it's some sort of mindfrick on the scale of a numbered title's secret movie.
> 
> You know, I thought Draco didn't browse KH fanfics because he hates the yaoi batallion, but I'm starting to think he just knows the flaws of this fandom better than I do.
> 
> *The problem is not that they have opinions about the death, the problem is that they're cracking jokes. What kind of jackass cracks a joke about someone dying?

"Woah, okay."

Around the side of the skyscraper before which Saïx had been fighting Heartless, Kairi and Lea found a sheer drop into a glowing pit. Directly above the pit was the bottom of the Organization's castle; Kairi glanced into the pit for a moment before turning to Lea. "Is this the brink you mentioned?"

"Yep," Lea confirmed. "The Brink of Despair."

"Who would call it something like that?" Kairi mused.

"You should see the map sometime," Lea argued. "Xemnas gave everywhere in this world a creepy name. Our break hall is called the Grey Area."

Kairi sighed. "Well, I guess it makes a little sense," she admitted. "Anyone trying to get into the castle by foot would... be left..."

Lea chuckled as she trailed off. "Yeah, step two: We find a way into the castle." He approached a nearby wall. "That doesn't involve one of us flinging the other at Nothing's Call like a Bad Dog."

He leaned against the surface, and Kairi took a deep breath before coming up to his side. "I need a break."

She sat down against the wall, and the two of them remained quiet, letting the silence of the dark city surround them.

"So, um-"

Lea was cut off when a drop of water struck his nose. Kairi felt another strike her hand, and her gaze went up. "Rain?"

"Of course rain," Lea muttered, seizing the hood of his coat and throwing it over his head. "The only weather this place has is either empty night skies or a downpour like no one can enjoy."

Kairi reached for her own hood and realized she hadn't lowered it after having gone through the dark corridor. "You were saying something, Axel?"

"Right," Lea realized. "You said that Dusk took something from you?"

"...Yeah," Kairi admitted.

"What was so important that you charged straight into a dark corridor to get it back?" Lea asked.

In response, Kairi reached into her pocket, drawing something out. "This."

Lea's gaze went to the item - a bright star, with a face on one point, from the top of which hung a white chain. After a moment, he realized it was made of... "Seashells?"

Kairi nodded. "Uh-huh. I think these ones can only be found on the Destiny Islands." She held the charm flat in her hand. "If you carry a good luck charm made of these shells, you're guaranteed to reunite with your friends. I gave this to Sora after he saved me the first time, and made him promise he'd bring it back to me. And sure enough, we found each other again - when he finally came home. After the King asked him to come for the Mark of Mastery exam, I let him take it again. And after the verdict was passed, he gave it to Riku to give back to me when he came to bring  _me_ to Master Yen Sid's tower."

She closed her other hand over it. "That meant he wanted me to find him safely. The same way he found me. And I wasn't about to let some Nobody make off with it."

"I see," Lea mused, turning away.

"Something wrong?" Kairi asked.

"No, sorry."

Kairi smiled. " _Lea_..."

Lea sighed when she heard him call him by that name - which  _he_ had asked her to stop calling him by, if he was to stop apologizing. "Just... trying to remember. Something about those seashells seem familiar."

"Did you see Sora carrying it?" Kairi asked.

"...No, I don't think so," Lea admitted. "Something about the seashells themselves." He dug his hand under his hood, scratching at his head. "And... someone in the Organization coat... whose face I can't quite pick out."

Quiet fell again as the rain started to pick up.

"...Does, uh... Does the phrase 'may your heart be your guiding key' mean anything to you?"

Kairi turned to him. "Not at all," she proclaimed, without hesitation. "Where did that come from?"

"That was back before me and Isa were Nobodies," Lea explained. "We lived in a town surrounding a castle. The two of us were stupid daredevils, tried to break in a couple times. Talk about your defenses, though. Aeleus and Dilan watching the doors like hawks, Braig and little tattletale Ienzo wandering the halls, all the labs on tight guard... Barely ever made it anywhere deep." He took a deep breath. "But one day, we did. And we found what looked like a prison. And in one cell... we met a girl."

"A girl?"

Lea shook his head. "Well, we were pretty sure it was a girl, from the voice. But we never got a good look at her. The cell was too dark, and the bars were too tight to let us see in. I think she'd lost her memory. We never got to learn much about her. Didn't even get her name." His gaze fell. "So we'd talk to her. The only thing a pair of reckless teens could offer. When she'd talk to us, she'd sound... distressed. Like she'd been asked to do something and was scared she'd messed it up. And every time, we'd notice the guards coming and say goodbye before they'd realize we were talking to her. And that was how she'd say goodbye. 'May your heart be your guiding key'."

Kairi turned back to her lucky charm. "And you think that's the girl you might be trying to remember?"

"...Ugh, no," Lea muttered. "That's not it. I remember her, clear as day. But this other person is... different. Like someone wrote it down in pencil, erased it, and didn't bother to be thorough. Seashells, and a coat..." His gaze rose. "And memory."

"Memory?" Kairi asked.

"Roxas," Lea mused. "I remember... Roxas didn't have any of Sora's memories. I struck up a friendship because he kind of reminded me of her." He set a hand on his forehead. "And I think... this other person had something kind of similar." He shook his head. "But nothing else seems the same. And that line doesn't ring any of the same bells."

Kairi's gaze drifted to the castle. "May your heart be your guiding key... That sounds like some kind of old cryptic mentor advice."

"Doesn't it, though," Lea admitted. "Love to know where she learned it."

A moment's thought; then Kairi got to her feet, setting her lucky charm into her pocket. The rain falling around her, she stepped up to the edge of the pit beneath the castle, and raised her hand; Destiny's Embrace appeared in her grip.

Quiet.

Then she turned the Keyblade towards the opening in the bottom of the castle... and light shone from surface beneath her. It extended forward, slowly, always starting to recede again before extending further, like the tide encroaching on the shore; Lea pulled himself off the wall in surprise as it gradually crossed the distance to Nothing's Call.

"Woah," Lea exclaimed. "Where did that come from?"

"Sora," Kairi mused. "When... When Sora came to save me, while Saïx was holding me prisoner, I... I knew when he got close. I could feel it in my heart. And I didn't see any Gummi Ships crashed into the towers. Which means... he had to have come through this city."

Lea chuckled. "And you just... tried to do the same thing? Without even knowing how he'd come in?"

Kairi nodded. "I remembered the connection in my heart... and reached for whatever power found him."

"Well, it worked," Lea praised. "Let's get out of this rain."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changed the rating on this thing because it strikes me that even if the story itself qualifies for general audiences, I'm a bit more foul-mouthed in the notes than probably makes the rating.
> 
> So, the Secret Reports mention that the girl Lea and Isa met in Hollow Bastion used the old Uχ phrase (I can't believe they actually gave that a glossary definition under the name 'The Old Words'). And an interview with Nomura says it's a character who has appeared elsewhere in the series. Taking the absentee from the Epilogue into account, my money is that Xehanort found a memory-dashed Master Ava.


	4. Walking the Road to Dawn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the nameless star in the Final World. I thought I recognized her voice from somewhere. Since she's another Nomura-confirmed previous character, I watched through the credits to find her voice actor, then wiki'd where I'd seen Madison Davenport before. And... it was Materia. From Dissidia NT. Yeah, nope, nothing can convince me that's gonna happen. Besides which she's not appeared in KH before so the doesn't qualify.

"Magical walkways _should **not**_ be transparent."

Lea's comment as they stepped into Nothing's Call had Kairi turning to him. "I'm sorry?" She wasn't sure if he was complaining about what she'd done or was just expressing an opinion to keep his mouth busy.

"If it's made of something solid, you know it's there and it's gonna stay there until it starts showing signs of damage," Lea insisted. "But magic usually doesn't get damaged the same way. You never know if it's gonna just fade out."

The movement of his hand as he finished ended up flicking water at Kairi, who pulled back with a chuckle. "Hey, watch it," she warned. "We're still wet."

"Oh, right." Lea glanced down at his wet coat before holding out his hand, and his Keyblade appeared in it. "Don't worry, I know a trick for this."

"Trick?" Kairi asked.

Fire magic ignited on the tip of his Keyblade, and Kairi watched as it soared around him, so close she was worried his coat would catch fire. The moisture seemed to fade away at each pass, and it quickly rushed up past his face, the gust of heat knocking his hood back before the flame faded. "There, nice and dry."

Kairi laughed, impressed. "You get wet so often you know how to get rid of it in a hurry?"

"Like I said, this place only has two kinds of weather," Lea admitted, his Keyblade disappearing. "You try."

"I don't think I'm gonna need that very often," Kairi argued as she drew her own Keyblade. "But... let's see..." A small Fire appeared on the tip of her weapon, and she swept it down; the flame soared away from her a brief moment before redirecting and zipping between her ankles. It raced around her, the warmth rushing through her body, although she cut the magic short before it reached her face.

Lea chuckled. "You're a natural with magic," he observed.

"Guess so," Kairi admitted, pushing her hood back.

With a hum, Lea turned to the open area. "Well, step three was that the new Organization hadn't set up shop here. Looks like that one's right on the munny."

Kairi let her Keyblade disappear. "Okay, so what's step four?"

"I can remember how to get to the Round Room without a dark corridor," Lea replied.

* * *

The Castle That Never Was turned out to be entirely  _empty_. It was almost  _more_ unsettling than walking through the castle knowing that Nobodies could jump out at you from any direction; Kairi and Lea ended up drawing their Keyblades again and keeping a hand on them after the elevator. Lea seemed to get lost once or twice, but eventually they found their way to a strange, poorly-lit, dome-like room whose floor seemed to serve as a skylight; below was a room with a stage marked with the Organization's emblem, surrounded by seats on pillars.

"Is this the round room you mentioned?" Kairi asked.

"Yep," Lea confirmed. "Where Nothing Gathers." Then, when Kairi rolled her eyes; "Told you."

Kairi knelt against the glass surface. "Okay, so how does us getting here help us... Huh?" She could see something on the stage below - a small, glowing shape. "What's that?"

"That... is how Donald and Goofy got here," Lea replied. "During the Mark of Mastery exam. I think the King called it a 'star shard'. It's some kind of world teleportation device."

"So, we just pick it up?" Kairi asked.

Lea sighed. "Yes and no," he admitted. "If what the King told me while we were waiting for Sora to wake up is true, that thing is... not very reliable. Least not for getting  _to_ somewhere. On one hand, we're mostly trying to get  _away_ from this world... but on the other hand, we need to land somewhere that the others can find us. Step five: that thing doesn't screw us over even worse."

"Well, it's better than nothing," Kairi insisted. "How does this thing open?"

In response, Lea reached for the center panel of the skylight and swept an X across it; the glass faded out, leaving an opening in the surface. Kairi leapt down first, with Lea right on her tail; as she neared the stage, Aero magic danced around her, slowing her fall enough for her to land safely, and she quickly stepped aside as Lea fell through the same gust.

"Ready to roll the dice?" Lea asked.

Kairi laughed awkwardly. "That much of a risk?"

"I've seen a few different worlds I'd rather not land in," Lea admitted. "You think you can aim it in the right direction?"

"I hope so."

She offered Lea one hand, and he accepted it; then she knelt down, picking up the star shard and holding it before her. It had only a very faint glow like this, and for a moment Kairi had no idea how to do this; then she remembered the odd phrase that Lea's friend in the dark cell had said.

"...May my heart be my guiding key?"

The star shard began to glow, and Lea's grip on her hand tightened fearfully as the light surrounded them both... and then  _wrenched_ them from the stage.

* * *

"I don't think we should've let Aqua take off so soon."

The King and Riku were on the steps of the Mysterious Tower, resting after their return from having found Master Aqua. At Riku's comment, Mickey shook his head. "We don't have to worry too much about her," he insisted. "She's pretty powerful. Now that she's got a Keyblade again, she can handle most anything."

Riku's gaze fell. "Yeah, but... spending so long in the realm of darkness..."

"Time flows strangely in the dark realm," Mickey explained. "Aqua went missing eleven years ago, and hasn't changed much at all. I don't think it's been as long for her as it has for us."

"But that darkness that had a hold on her," Riku mused. "What if it..."

Mickey turned to the starry skies above. "Just trust in her," he insisted. "We don't have to worry too... Huh?" He shot to his feet. "Is that-!?"

Riku followed his gaze and found light streaking through the air. No, not just streaking - weaving,  _bouncing_. He'd seen that light before, during the Mark of Mastery exam - when Donald and Goofy had made their timely arrival - and as it got near, he could hear two voices yelling from the rush of movement.

One male, one female, both familiar.

The light slammed into the ground before him and Mickey, and a blinding flash rose up around it, prompting Riku to cover his eyes.

Someone made contact with his feet.

He glanced down and found a familiar red-haired girl lying there, a star-shaped crystal clenched tight in one hand.

"Kairi!?"

Slowly, Kairi's eyes opened. "Hi, Riku." She sounded like the landing had been less-than-gentle.

A groan from nearby drew the King's attention as Lea got to his feet. "Never using that thing again," he muttered.

"Axel! Kairi!" Mickey was most surprised at what he was seeing. "What are you two doing here?" Then, seeing the item in Kairi's hand. "Wait, that's... Master Yen Sid's star shard! Where did you-!?"

Kairi pushed herself to her feet. "Just don't... don't freak out."


End file.
